The present invention pertains to a multi-port module receptacle and in particular a electrical receptacle having multiple ports for receiving a plurality of transceiver modules.
Receptacles for receiving electronic devices are known by such terms as cages, guide rails and/or sockets. In some applications the receptacle is individually assembled and receives a single module or electronic device therein. Having a single receptacle allows for the adjustability of using only the one receptacle when only a single transceiver is needed to be mounted. In situations where additional receptacles are needed a manufacturer may add only the amount desired for an application, such as a host device where the number of desired ports is unknown, it is useful to have the receptacle separately assembled and then mounted or assembled side-by-side when the number of desired ports is known. However, the use of individually-assembled receptacles has a disadvantage that multiple receptacles must be handled and assembled with the host device. The more ports that must be handled and assembled, the more labor and material costs involved. Therefore, there is desired a multi-port receptacle assembly of a single unit which has multiple ports.
Other known receptacles such as a small form factor pluggable (SFP) transceiver receptacle as disclosed in a Multi-Source Agreement (MSA) (SFF-80741) discloses individual cages to receive a single SFP transceiver therein. Each cage is assembled to a motherboard by mounting an electrical connector to a land grid array pattern on the motherboard, placing the assembled two-piece cage over the electrical connector on the motherboard and then assembling a bezel over the front opening of the cage. For each port that is desired, these steps must be repeated for each cage assembly. Since each electrical connector must be mounted separately to the motherboard, additional labor or time is required each time an electrical connector is mounted. Therefore, there is desired a modular receptacle having electrical connectors pre-installed into the receptacle; so that upon mounting of the entire modular receptacle, a multitude of electrical connectors will also be mounted simultaneously upon mounting of the entire modular unit.